A Colorado Summer
by Aertyn - Fluff Monster
Summary: Colorado Springs is sweltering through a heatwave, and we find the gang at Jack's place, and as always, Romance ensues! Please R


**Disclaimer: Stargate and it's components are not owned by me, nor do they ever look to be -looks sadly at bank account-**

**Rating: T... there is kissing, but I totally skip the sex scene (I know...what's wrong with me!)**

**Spoilers: uhh...none that I can think off.**

**So this is something that I sorta whacked together on a whim (okay, granted that whim took a good 7 hours to 'whack together'). I do hope you enjoy "A Colorado Summer", as I certainly did enjoy writing it.**

**Italics is narrative. **

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_Our tale begins on a sweltering summers day in Colorado Springs, and we find ourselves in the backyard of a certain Colonel Jonathon O'Neill, or Jack, who along with his team mates and friends, Daniel Jackson and Teal'c are awaiting the arrival of the fourth member of their team, a Major Samantha Carter, beloved by all but loved by only one, so that they can truly begin to escape the heat of the Colorado Summer._

Jack was just throwing another can of beer in Daniels general direction, hoping that that slightly inebriated Archaeologist was able to catch it before it sank to the bottom, when he heard the familiar roar of a motorbike pulling into his driveway, smiling to himself he straightened as Sam rounded the corner of his house.

"Hi sir!" she called cheerily, as she dropped her helmet on a dry part of his deck, "you mind if I use your bathroom to change?" she asked as Jack nodded mutely, okay, so wearing her leathers had been a good idea after all.

"Uhh Jack?" Daniel called, as Jack stared at the receding back of his 2IC…well actually, at the receding six of his 2IC, it was rather hard to ignore the fact that they were firmly wrapped in tight black leather.

"What?" He snapped, turning around to face Daniel, which meant that he had to tear his vision away from the rather attractive view that he had been enjoying

"We need more beer." Daniel had, by this stage already had several in him, and was giggling every few minutes.

"I just threw you one!" Jack exclaimed, before spotting the exploded beer can 5ft away from him, guessing from the mark that the beer had left over the light coloured pavers that Daniel had thrown it out, "No more beer for you Danny." Chuckling as Daniel pouted.

Stepping out of the bathroom, Sam took a deep breath, she had been unable to find her one-piece suit and had been forced to wear her two-piece. Something that Janet had convinced her to buy 2 years ago, but she had never worn, and for good reason. The sapphire blue material left little to the imagination, and she felt rather self conscious as she stepped out onto the deck, smiling nervously as one set of eyes immediately swiveled in her direction.

"Holy Crap Carter…is that legal?" Jack said, drawing her to attention as Daniel and Teal'c followed his gaze.

"I…umm, er…" Sam stumbled in her speech as she wrapped a towel around her body, "It's a bit…umm…"

"sexy." Jack said quietly, hoping she wouldn't hear, but from the way her head snapped up to look at him, he realized that she had heard him. A deep flush crept up her face as she looked away suddenly, smiling as Daniel flailed around looking for his noodle.

After rescuing the noodle from Daniels grasp after he tried to beat Teal'c over the head with the purple foam stick, Teal'c helped Jack haul Daniel onto a lounge in the shade. Sam was now spread out on her stomach reading a book on the grass, humming along to a tune that was straining out of the well beaten cd player.

"Carter…the whole point of inviting you over to have a swim was so that you would actually, you know…swim." Jack said as he stood over her, smiling down at the view that he was being afforded.

"Fine sir." She answered, hardly enthusiastic in her acquiescence of his request, marking her place in her book, she stood up, brushing a few stray pieces of grass of her torso, ignoring the lack of distance between herself and her CO as he stared into her eyes. Fighting every inch of the way to avoid lowering his gaze.

"Sir?" she suddenly said, with a questioning look.

"Yeah?" Jack answered, her voice breaking through his train of thought which was considering throwing her back on the grass and removing her…clothes, if they could even be considered to be clothes.

"If you want me to swim, I need to get past you." She stated simply, flashing him a cheeky grin.

"I've got a better idea." He said, sweeping her into his arms, ignoring her squeak of protest as he strode towards the pool, grinning broadly down at the blonde beauty in his arms, reaching the edge of the pool, he waggled his eyebrows before twisting gracefully in the air and falling into the pool, taking his Major with him.

"Did you have to do that!" she spluttered after she surfaced, water running down her face as she tread water.

"Yes." He answered, forgetting for a moment that he was her CO as he inched towards her, his hand reaching up of it's own volition and gently tucking a few tendrils of damp hair behind her ear. His hand gently cupped her cheek as his thumb gently caressing her cheek, he watched in mesmerized awe as her blue eyes darkened in colour. Then realization slapped him in the face when they heard a giggle from the direction that Daniel was in. Teal'c apparently struggling to keep him in check as he whined about more beer.

"Carter…I…" Jack's hand dropped as he backed away, scared by how easily his defenses had dropped as Sam ducked her head before flipping away from, diving under water towards the noodle chair.

Later, as Jack flipped the hamburgers over on his grill, his gaze wandered every few seconds to the women who was laughing at a story that Daniel was telling, having sobered up quite a bit. He knew he shouldn't be looking at her like that, but it just seemed that his normally very military brain was over taken by his heart whenever Sam was in the same room as him. His defenses always dropped around her, he laughed at her jokes, and went out of his way to make her smile that smile that always caused his heart to skip a beat. Breaking away when he noticed Teal'c staring at him, a slight smile covering the Jaffa's face, on anyone else that would be considered a grin.

"C'mon kids, dinners ready!" he called, as he piled the hamburgers, sausages and the onion onto a plate and walked over to his table, which was covered in salads, sauces and drinks.

It wasn't really a table meant for 4, so Sam had to squish in next to Jack on the bench seat, both very aware of the close proximity that this was giving them. Sam smiled as Teal'c piled sausages onto his plate, and squirted copious amounts of tomato sauce over them, for an alien he had adjusted so well to earth life.

"Carter…earth to Carter." Jack said as he held out a sausage that was impaled on his fork, "you want the last one?"

"Sure sir." Sam answered as he dropped the sausage on her plate.

"What have I told you Carter, call me Jack when we are on downtime." Jack knew he was treading a fine line, there ranks were the only thing standing in the way of them…doing anything.

"Only if you call me Sam and not Carter." She replied evenly, flashing him a brilliant grin as Jack tilted his head slightly, before grinning right back. Daniel missed all of those, but Teal'c had noticed, he always noticed and was grinning as he took a large bite out of the sandwich that he had made out of his hamburger and some coleslaw.

"Sure thing Ca…Sam." He said as he handed her the mustard bottle, knowing that she preferred mustard to tomato sauce.

Dinner passed in companionable silence as they all ate with gusto, having developed a rather substantial hunger from the amount of swimming that had taken place that afternoon.

"O'Neill, I feel I should take Daniel Jackson back to the base, he appears to have broken into the cooler again." Teal'c spoke up as they cleared the table, both Jack and Sam turning to where Daniel was ransacking the cooler in the dimming light, the sun sinking slowly behind the trees.

"That'd probably be a good idea T." Jack finally said as Daniel held up the last can of beer, with an expression on his face that looked like he had just found Atlantis.

"You should probably head home as well Sam, we got an early start tomorrow." Jack said as Teal'c hauled Daniel into his arms and dragged him down the drive way.

"No, it's fine Sir…Jack." She corrected herself as he gave her a cheeky grin.

"Sir Jack huh?" Striking a pose that looked like a cross between Superman and a knight of the round table, which caused Sam to giggle.

"Hey, what did I say about giggling?" he admonished cheekily, swatting her arm playfully as she giggled again, "Right, you need to be disciplined solider." He said, swinging her into his arms and carrying her the short distance to the pool and dumping her rather unceremoniously into the cooling water.

"Jack!" she yelped as she surfaced, ducking sideways quickly to avoid the cannonball that Jack was impersonating.

Laughing as he surfaced he gently tugged her under the water, holding her close as he stared at her through the bubbles, his face leaning in to kiss her when the need for air overcame him and they bobbed to the surface.

"Sam…I…" Jack began as he gently let go, anticipating her to move away, but was rather shocked when she did the opposite and pressed herself into his body.

"Shut up." She mumbled as she wound her arms around his neck, her face mere inches away from his before she suddenly twitched then cried out. "Crap…"

"What…what is it?" he asked as she let go, struggling to tread water as she tried to make it to the edge of the pool.

"Cramp." She grimaced again as Jack swam after her, hoisting himself out with graceful ease before kneeling down to haul Sam out after him. Sitting her down on a lounge, he gently began rubbing her calf muscle, easing the cramp out as she relaxed back, staring at him with an odd smile on her face.

"Better?" he asked after a few minutes.

"mmm…much." Her eyes were half closed as she stared up into his, a smile playing nervously at her lips whilst Jack continued to rub her calf, not even realizing when his fingers began working up her leg. Reality finally stirring in him as he realized that his fingers were now trailing up her thigh gently, sensuously, halting the movement Jack drew his hand away as it had been stung as her eyes flew open.

"Don't stop." Sam said clearly as Jack drew in shaky breathes.

"Sam…Major Carter…" Jack stuttered out, "I…err…god, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be…I want this." Sam replied carefully, sitting up and sliding closer to him on the narrow lounge, her hands gently stroking up his muscular torso before wrapping around his neck, bending his head to meet hers. At first it was gentle, soft, tentative in nature, but passion soon enflamed as Jack gently stroked the edge of her mouth with his tongue before pulling back.

"Sam, are absolutely sure?" he whispered, his eyes darkened with lust as he was given the answer he longed for in the form of her closing the distance once again and pressing her mouth against his, before gently nibbling on his lips.

"Never been more sure of anything." She mumbled against them as she wiggled off the lounge and onto the soft ground beneath, relinquishing her hold on his mouth.

"What are you…?"Jack never got a chance to finish the question as Sam pulled him down after her so that he sprawled on top of her body. Finally giving in to there hearts as they made love under the stars.

"Hey…" Sam whispered sometime later as they both lay on the grass, entwined in each other's arms.

"mmm?" Jack mumbled back as he nuzzled her hair.

"A shooting star." Sam pointed up at the sky, tracing the line that the star had taken.

"Did you make a wish?" Jack asked as he shifted onto his side, and gazing at the naked beauty next to him, a finger trailing over her abdomen as he snuggled closer to her, his head coming to rest on her shoulder as he gazed into her eyes.

"I can't tell you…otherwise it wont come true, and I so want it too." She answered honestly as she glanced up into the sky once more, "Hey look another one!"

"I don't need to make a wish." He stated, his gaze not leaving hers

"Oh, and why not?" A smile crept over her features as she saw Jack flush a little in dim light

"My wish has already come true." He answered quietly, gently tracing a line down her face as he brushed a gentle kiss over her lips, "I'll be right back." He said as he jumped up to head inside, leaving a rather self conscious Sam lying on her back in the nude in the middle of Jack's yard. Scanning the immediate area she quickly located a towel and wrapped it around her body as Jack stepped outside again, his arms laden with a light blanket, some pillows and what appeared to be clothes.

"Hey, it's too hot to sleep inside tonight, so I thought we could spend a night out under the stars." He said quietly as she settled back on the grass, "I bought some clothes out for you." He added, dropping a pair of boxers and a shirt next to her as he threw the pillows down on the grass. Sam hurriedly pulled the clothes on and then settled back onto the pillows, snuggling into Jack's side as they stared up at the stars.

"Wonder how many we have been too." Jack asked quietly as Sam gave a quiet chuckle.

"Actually, very few of the stars visible from earth have planets orbiting them…but we have been to a couple, I don't know where they are though. I know the constellation name, but not where they are." Sam replied honestly.

"What constellations?" Jack asked, wanting to show off his rather wide knowledge of the nights sky.

"Hercules." Sam remembered one, and Jack immediately raised her arm, using it to point out the constellation in the air.

"We've been there." Jack replied as Sam threw him a shocked look

"I spent a year star gazing after the first mission." He explained with a slight shrug.

"Corona Borealis." Jack drew her hand down towards the horizon a bit more.

"The crown." He told her as she turned to look at him.

"I love you." She said after an eternity.

"I'm there." He said quietly, placing a hand over her heart, "And you are here." He added, picking up hers and placing it over his. Sam gently snuggled into his chest, her head resting above his heart as her eyes closed. Jack gently wrapped an arm around her, holding her close as he stared up at the nights sky, one last streak of light crossing over that darkened blanket that was dotted with bright specks. Whispering into her hair, he made one last wish, "I wish...for forever Sam."

"For Forever Jack." Came the mumbled reply, indicating that Sam wasn't asleep as he had thought.

"You mean that?" he asked, shocked.

"Yeah…sure…yabetcha." She answered, turning her head so that she could look up at him, "I'm not looking for a fling or a short term thing, this is forever. You've held my heart since we met, and you will forever hold it."

_And so our tale ends, well, the end of the stpry, (but really the beginning of a tale more lengthy than this and one that will twist and turn), but as sleep overcomes our tired duo a pledge is made by the heavens that these two lovers, mated by the stars, will get their forever. The blanket of stars that shines down upon them, bathing them in a gentle glow, the cool of the night a respite from the heat of a Colorado Summer. _

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**So, I do hope you enjoyed "A Colorado Summer", as always reviews are lovely. And really, after spending over 8 hours writing and editing (and researching as to what constellations can be seen during Summer in northern America) is it too much to ask -hopeful grin- :)**


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